“I feel bad for my seniors. I’m not trying to lose any games. It’s tough for them — I understand that.”

A fumble on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage at their own 34-yard line produced a touchdown four plays later for the Buccaneers (3-1).

“We came out flat,” Heying said. “That might be on me — I’ll take the rap for that one. It felt like a JV atmosphere.”

Interboro needed just three plays to cover 50 yards on its next possession and Upper Moreland found itself in a 14-0 hole 5:17 into the non-league game.

“I think we could’ve played better,” said senior defensive back Nick Hall, who had two interceptions.

“We really have some players on our team. I think we’re a lot better than the scoreboard says tonight. We need to step it up.”

A 6-yard punt gave Upper Moreland the ball at the Interboro 33 with 8:22 to go in the second period and sophomore quarterback Charlie Hooker, who shares time with running-oriented junior Robert Knox, guided them to the end zone to make it 14-7 in four plays. Hooker found senior Kenny Register on a screen pass for the final 15, thanks in part to Register spinning over the goal line after he was hit at the 3.

“I want to develop (Knox and Hooker) and play them both,” Heying said. “They’re both good football players.”

But the Buccaneers responded by going 67 yards on nine plays to regain control.

“We show spurts that we can beat teams and we can be good,” said Hall, a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder. “We need to stop making mistakes.”

The Bears split with Interboro in 2010, winning by 28-20 during the regular season and dropping a 7-6 PIAA District One Class AAA first-round decision on Nov. 12.

The bright spots for the Bears included stopping Interboro on a fourth-quarter goal-line stand in which Hall had his second interception and the efforts of Knox (19 carries for 86 yards) and freshman receiver Tyler Whitmore (two catches, 35 yards).

Stopping the run continues to be an issue for Upper Moreland.

While the Bears allowed a season-low 5.9 yards per carry, they permitted 243 rushing yards to give their foes 1,155 for an 8.7 average so far.